Play Productions:
- THE OTTAWA FRINGE FESTIVAL will take place June 8th to 18th. I will perform my one-man play "A Better Play Than Hamlet" which I premiered at the PEI Fringe in 2016
For further details check www.ottawafringe.com

- "THE FIXER-UPPER" is a comedy in 7 phone calls about summer in the Maritimes, cottage renovations and family manipulation.
. July 13 & 14th at the VILLAGE PLAYHOUSE in Bancroft (Ontario)
. August 8th to 19th at GLOBUS THEATRE in Bobcaygeon Ontario)

For Information about my plays and for copyscripts: "Culture Shock", "The Fixer-Upper"
Contact Playwrights Guild of Canada:www.playwrightsguild.ca

If you are interested in finding about my other plays, please contact me directly by e.mail.
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What We've Been Up To:

We're back on the farm again after a summer down east, where we were visiting, doing a few shows, and pushing my novels of which there are now two . "Beach Reading" which was nominated as a finalist for the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction by the Quebec Writers Federation, and which was published by Acorn Press
who also published my novella "The Fixer Upper".
"The Goat in the Tree," is my latest and is published by www.guernicaeditions.com
It's an interesting process, writing and having a novel published, and part of the process, getting the word out, continues.
What you try to do is write something with that "quality of infection" which Tolstoy talks about, or in showbiz terms, which "has legs": is in fact so appealing that people will not only read it with enjoyment but pass it around to friends to read as well. This, as I say, is the ideal.
Whether or not I have succeeded is of course not for me to say, but even if it were, I would not be able to: One of the things I discovered writing this novel is that by the time I finished I had lost all objectivity as to its quality. That's why having Terry Fallis and Pat Ledwell and Bill Richardson say such nice things about it was so encouraging. There are times when I like to think of myself as a lone and heroic artist unswayed by either positive or negative criticism, but the truth is, like everybody else, I like jam.
So, clearly the only way you can find out for yourself if this novel is any good is to buy it (or ask for it at the library, or borrow it from a friend) and read it.
Then tell me what you think. Doing a live show you know immediately whether you're hitting or missing, but that's the other thing I'd like to point out about the Literary Life: You have to wait before you get any feedback.

This week, we've been making wine from the wild grapes that grow around, and now have more than enough for the year, bubbling away in the corner of the living room. It was a lousy year for apples, so we made no cider to speak of, but everything else in the garden has been fine. At least the groundhogs seemed to enjoy it.
Under the title of "Other Types of Harvest", The best news on the playwrighting front has been the extrememly successful run that The Port Stanley Theatre enjoyed during the summer, so congratulations everybody down there.
Meanwhile, CULTURE SHOCK, The Comedy That Will Not Die (no matter how many times we try to murder it) thunders along handily had a successful and by all reports fun production, in January and February by Central Alberta Theatre, so congrats all around.
This story DOES seem to have legs. People hear about it and turn up to see what the fuss is about, probably because it was written for the right reasons, and was allowed to grow on it's own (like fungus).
I've put a
link here where you can order a
publish-on-demand script of the play if you so desire it.
We also have a musical version.

The one-man show I'm performing now is called "THE UPSIDE OF THE DOWNTURN"
The "Downturn" is that there has been this glitch in all our lives. Partly because of the economic crisis, of
course, and a sense that it's maybe not finished, or might happen any time again. So we're all a little bit more cautious. Also there's been this strange shift in the media, where we get our information from, and we don't know whether that's necessarily for the better or for the worse yet.
On top of all that there is a general feeling that our politicians are increasingly more useless.
So what to do?
Well, there IS hope. We're back down to our own resources and the people around us. At the
grassroots (where all real growth occurs) things are starting to move. Cells are
dividing, seeds sprouting, gardens blooming. The yeast is working, turning the juice into wine. And this is the upside.

The way the one-man show works is by not staying in one place too long. It's harder to hit a moving target. I'm always writing new material, and right now it's in an interesting state.
Hopefully, that should always be the case.
New stuff emerges, pushes old stuff out, old stuff resurfaces and gets put back in with new twists added to it,
themes and threads and monologues interweave in new ways, which in turn engender other ideas. The only criteria which are hopefully achieved is that when an audience leaves, they're saying, "Well, THAT was worth it."
It'll never be finished. Somehow, I find this comforting.

THEATRE PERFORMANCES:

Co-production of my play "THE FIXER-UPPER" at Grove Hall in Huntingdon for 3 performances: Nov. 24th- 26thwww.grovehall.ca

- ISLAND FRINGE FESTIVAL took place August 4th to 7th and I performed my latest one-man play "A Better Play Than Hamlet". It was a World Première and I am glad to report it was successfully received.
Venue: Lecture Hall at Hollande College Culinary Institute - 4 Sidney Street in Charlottetown (PEI)
For info: www.islandfringe.com

Summer 2016 I had 2 theatre projects:
- The Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island has granted me the opportunity to workshop a Musical based on the poetry and stories of ROBERT SERVICE.
The workshop took place at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in July and August.
My co-creator for this project is Island musician and writer Margie Carmichael.

Production of my play "MOM RUNS AMOK".
A comedy about cabin fever and politics and how this dangerous mixture can allow things to get way out of hand.
Huntingdon (Quebec) - Grove Hall
Friday, October 16th - 8 pm
Saturday, October 17th - 2 pm & 8 pm
For info call: (514) 791-5100 or check grovehall.ca

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Book launch of my new novel "The Goat In The Tree" published by Guernica Editions
Sunday, March 23rd at 4 pm - Toronto
The SuperMarket - 268 Augusta . Tel: (416) 840-0501
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The rest of the Okanagan tour will be presented by Ken Smedley & The George Ryga Centre. Ken sent along a note to say it will be
"the Best Comedy Ticket Price in Town! Tickets available Immediately! and here's where..........

"The Fixer Upper" At THE GUILD in Charlottetown, PEI
10 performances on Saturdays and Sundays over the course of 5 week-ends:
July 17 & 18, July 24 & 25, July 31 & August 1, August 7 & 8, August 14 & 15.
Box Office: (902) 620-3333 - or online
www.theguildpei.com

NEW BRUNSWICK:

May 12th: Sackville SACKVILLE UNITED CHURCH
Box Office: Live Bait Theatre
87 Main St. Sackville
-Tel: (506) 536-2248 or
www.info@livebaittheatre.com
Or at Ticket Pro online Ticketpro
Tickets also available at Tidewater Books in Sackville

QUEBEC:

May 21st: Montreal, Fundraising event
Royal West Academy Auditorium, Montreal West.
Tickets available at Royal West Academy,
189 Easton, Montreal West.
514-489-8454.